Against the Current 110

ONLY ONE THING is absolutely clear about the outcome of the endless U.S. presidential race: George W. Bush will not be reelected in November, 2004. Bush may very well remain in office, and might even honestly win the election. Bush cannot possibly be reelected, however, since he was never elected in the first place.

ANY DOUBTS ABOUT the meaning of the struggle for the right of gay and lesbian marriage should have disappeared forever when Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco opened the marriage bureau at city hall to same-sex couples.

PROTESTS IN NINE cities across California, Oregon and Washington took place February 23rd, coordinated by the Cascadia Rising Project, in response to the Bush Administration's removal of protections on federal lands for over 100 rare and uncommon species associated with the old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest.

MORE THAN TWO months have passed since federal officials withdrew the grand jury subpoenas against four peace activists and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The withdrawal of the subpoenas and the gag order against Drake came amidst a firestorm of protest, not only from progressive and civil liberties lawyers and peace and justice activists from around the state and the country, but also from mainstream news media and elected politicians from both parties.

IN JULY, 2003 George Bush set off on a five-day, five-country "tarmac tour" of Africa, a thinly veiled attempt to burnish his international reputation in the wake of his illegal and internationally unpopular invasion of Iraq.

WHILE I WAS doing research in Guinea in the summer of 1999, a village woman informed me of a legend told throughout West Africa. “It is not good to send your children to America,” she said, “for in America, they bury Africans in shallow graves.”

THE FOURTH ANNUAL World Social Forum (WSF), held January 16-21 in the Indian city of Mumbai (what used to be called Bombay), drew 100,000 activists from over 130 countries. For three previous years it had been in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, to which it returns in 2005.

IT WAS A decade or so ago, at what was then called the "Montreux-Detroit International Jazz Festival," that jazz percussion master Max Roach presented a music education workshop that he called "The Transparent Sound." True to form, Roach did not spend the time showing off his own prodigious technical ability. Instead, he invited young student drummers up to help them learn some basic polyrhythms. He also demonstrated how achieving "the transparent sound," making all parts of the drum kit sound...

“The final contract in Southern California is less costly to Kroger than the offer that was on the table when the strike and lockout began...” --Kroger CEO David Dillon“[This was] the most successful strike in history.” --recently resigned UFCW President Douglas DorityEXHAUSTED AND BROKE after four-and-a-half months on the picket line, Southern California grocery workers voted overwhelmingly on February 28-29 to accept a two-tier wage and benefits system with a cap on...

A NEW T-SHIRT has appeared at the American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) plant where I work, and it is selling like hotcakes. The hi-lo driver shuttling parts to my job was wearing it. On the front there's a cemetery with a prominent tombstone, on which is written “R.I.P. UAW.” On the back there's a demonstration, with workers carrying signs that say: “We were sold down the river by the 2004 negotiations.” “Lower Wages, More Work, Indefinite Layoffs.”

THE STRATEGY OF “the lesser evil” hasn't worked, and less than ever will it work today. The loyalty of labor, racial minorities, women, LGBT people and other progressives—expressed in massive campaign contributions and large numbers of votes—comes at a very low cost for the “New Democrats,” who know perfectly well that no matter how far to the right they move, the advocates of “the lesser evil” remain their captives.

Another World Is Possible: Globalization and Anti CapitalismDavid McNallyWinnipeg, Manitoba: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2002, $14.95 paperNaming the System: Inequality and Work in the Global EconomyMichael D. YatesNew York: Monthly Review Press, 2003, $16.95 paper.THE PERIOD SINCE George Bush Sr. declared a "new world order" has been marked by growing global inequality and war. The failures of neoliberalism mean that more than fifty countries have seen declining per capita income in recent...

WHEN PAUL MARLOR Sweezy, the most widely recognized Marxist economist in the world, died at age 93 in February, a long life of exemplary commitment came to an end. The sole surviving founding editor of Monthly Review, Sweezy built an internationally known institution that sustained the radical left through the bleakest hours of the Cold War and its aftermath.

How does ecosocialist politics differ from traditional socialist and labor politics? How do we ensure the generalized satisfaction of needs for all, including the equalization of living standards between the industrialized nations and the rest of the world, if humanity can no longer afford to keep expanding production based on energy from fossil fuels?

In 2014 Solidarity’s Ecosocialist Working Group began a project to discuss these and related questions. We publish three essays here as the beginning of a working paper exchanging ideas, proposals, and possible strategic frameworks. We also invite your comments.